Darkness in Skyrim
by lkjh869
Summary: The full tale of a girl named Darkness in Skyrim.


I start my life. Who am I? What do I want to be? I want to be a wizard. But who am I? I am a female High Elf, also known as an Altmer, from the Summerset Isles, named Darkness. I came to the land of Skyrim because I wanted to find new adventure and I heard there was a college in a town called Winterhold that could teach me magic. Besides, my mother and I had a very large fight so I decided to run away. Here I am a visitor to this land, and I am already in trouble. I am in a cart. My hands tied behind my back. I came to Skyrim at the wrong place. I was caught in a war. I was taken because I was found on the battle field. Here with me are three people I do not know. All with their hands tied behind them and one with a rag tied round his head covering his mouth. We are riding down a small rocky path. The horse pulling the cart seems to have no problem with the stony path. It is winter and I am cold because of the prisoner garbs I am wearing doesn't have sleeves.

"Hey, you. You are finally awake." The man sitting across from me says. I guess I blacked out, probably from a hit I took from one of the men who captured me. "You were trying to cross the border right? Walked right in to that imperial ambush, same as us, and the thief over there."

I look at the man who is wearing the same type clothes I am. "Damn you Stormcloak's." He told the man who was just speaking. "Skyrim was just fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could have stolen that horse and been half way to Hammerfell." He then looks at me. "You there. You and me – we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormclokes the Empire wants."

"Were all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief." The other man calmly says.

Then the Imperial solder, at least I'm guessing he's one, looks back at us. "Shut up back there!" He shouts.

Then the horse thief looks at the man with the rag over his mouth. "What's wrong with him, huh?"

"Watch you tongue! You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!" The first man said angrily.

"Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm?" The thief said panicking. "You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they captured you," He paused for a seconded, "Oh gods, where are they taking us!"

"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits." The man sitting across from me says.

The thief continues to panic. "No, this can't be happening! This isn't happening."

The man across from me looks at the horse thief. "Hey, what village are you from horse thief?"

"Why do you care?" The thief responds.

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home."

"Rorikstead, I – I'm from Rorikstead."

Then in Imperial soldier in front of our cart shouts. "General Tullius, sir! The headsmen is waiting!"

"Good, let's get this over with!" General Tullius replies.

"Shor, Mara, Dibellla, Kynareth, Akatosh, Divines, please help me!" The thief pleads.

"Look at him. General Tullius, the Military Governor." The man across from me says hatefully as we pass into a fort. The fort is full of people wearing the same uniform as the soldier driving the cart. Except for one man on a horse who's uniform looks much more distinguished. I'm guessing that's General Tullius. He is surrounded by what looks like Thalmor. "And," the man across from me continues, "it looks like he brought the Thalmor with him! Damn elves." Now that I found a little offensive seeing as how I am an elf. "I bet they had something to do with this!" He pauses for a minute. "This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilad is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe."

I saw a group of people ahead of us so I knew our trip was almost over. I also saw a family standing in front of a house to our left. "Who are they, daddy?" The little boy asked. "Where are they going?"

"You need to go inside, little cub." His father answered.

"Why? I want to watch the soldiers." The boy complained.

"Inside the house. Now!" His father commanded.

"Yes, papa." The boy said sadly. His voice fading into the background.

At this time the soldiers slowed the cart.

"Get the prisoners out of the carts. Move it!" A soldier said, standing behind the cart next to us that had already stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" The thief panicked.

"Why do you think? End of the line." The man across from me said calmly. "Let's go. Let's not keep the gods waiting for us."

"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" The thief pleaded with the guards.

"Face your death with some courage, thief." The man that was across from me said.

First out of the cart was Ulfric, then the horse thief, then me, then the guy that was across from me.

"You have got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!" The thief kept pleading.

"Step forward to the mark as we call your name. One at a time!" A female soldier said.

"The empire loves their damn lists…" Sighed the man that was once across from me.

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm." The male soldier next to the female said, marking the name off the list.

"It's been an honor, Jarl Ulfric." Said the man who was once across from me.

"Ralof of Riverwood!" Shouted the man.

The man that was once across from me stepped up. Finally a name! I thought to myself.

"Lokir of Rorikstead." Continued the man.

The thief panicked. "No, I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" He shouted and then took off running.

"Halt!" The female soldier shouted.

"You're not going to kill me!" The thief shouted as he continued to run.

"Archers!" The female shouted, and before the thief could get very far an arrow hit him in the head, killing him instantly. "Anyone else feel like running?"

'After that… no.' I thought to myself.

"Wait. You there. Step forward." The male commanded. I walked forward until I was right on the mark. "Who are you?" The man questioned.

"I am Darkness. I am a High Elf from the Summerset Isles." I said trying not to lose myself at the thought of dying.

"You're not from the Thalmor Embassy, are you High Elf? No…that can't be right." He said. He turned the girl next to him. "Captain, what should we do? She's not on the list." He asked.

She turned to him. "Forget the list. She goes to the block.

"By your orders Captain." He turned to me. I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to the Summerset Isles. Follow the Captain, prisoner."

I walked to the group of other prisoners that where awaiting the headsman's axe. General Tullius was standing in front of Ulfric. "Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use the power of the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne." Ulfric just grunted under the rag. You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace!"

A weird roaring sound was heard from somewhere in the distance. Everybody looked around but none could see anything. "What was that?" The male soldier from before asked.

"It's nothing. Carry on." Replied General Tullius.

"Yes, General Tullius." Said the Captain. She turned to a priest next to her. "Give them their last writes.

The priestess began. "As we commend your soles to Aetherius, Blessings of the Eight Divines bless you-

"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with." A male Stormcloak from the other cart said walking up to the chopping block.

"As you wish." The priestess simply replied.

"Come on, I haven't got all morning!" He said as the Captain put her foot the back of his knee to drive him to the ground and then but her foot on his back and pushed his head down onto the block. "My ancestors are smiling at me Imperials! Can you say the same?"

Then the axe came down. It was hard to watch. But it happened. His head rolled into a crate they put beneath the block and the Captain kicked his body aside.

"You Imperial bastards!" A female Stormcloak shouted from somewhere to the left of me.

"Justice!" Vilad shouted.

"Death to the Stormclokes!" A Imperial soldier shouted.

"As fearless in death, as he was in life." Ralof said.

"Next the High Elf!" Shouted the Captain.

Oh no, my turn. I'm sorry Mama. I thought to myself, almost crying. Then the strange roaring sound was heard again. Only this time closer.

"There it is again, did you hear that?" The male soldier asked.

"I said, next prisoner!" The Captain angrily responded.

The male soldier looked at me. "To the block prisoner. Nice and easy."

On the verge of tears I slowly walked up to the block. My knee was forced to the ground and my head slammed on the block. I turned my head to look at the headsman. But I saw something take off from the cliffs in the background. Something big and black. When it took off, we heard that same roar again.

"What in Oblivion is that?" General Tullius shouted.

"Sentries, what do you see?" The Captain demanded.

"It's in the clouds!" They responded.

As the headsman raised his axe, a black dragon landed on the tower behind him. His wings creating just enough wind to knock the headsman down, saving my life.

"DRAGON!" A soldier shouted.

The dragon shouted something in a language I couldn't understand. Right after he did, storm clouds appeared in the sky. Then he shouted something else and I was pushed by an invisible force off of the chopping block, hitting my head on the ground. I got dizzy for a second.

"Guards! Get the towns people to safety!" Tullius demanded.

Then Ralof shouted at me. "Hey! High Elf, with me! Get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!"

My vision cleared and I got up. "This way!" I followed him and Ulfric to a nearby tower while flaming rubble came down from above and the dragon was wreaking havoc on the town. "Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?"

"Legends don't burn down villages." Ulfric responded. "We need to move. Now!"

"Up though the tower, let's go!" Ralof said. I followed him up the stairs.

Halfway up the stairs, the dragon burst through the wall.

"Get back!" Ralof shouted.

"Yol..Toor..Shall!" It shouted as fire burst from its mouth, burning a soldier.

After it left we went up to the hole in the wall. The whole village was burning. "You see the inn on the other side?" Ralof asked. "Jump through the roof and keep going. Go! We'll fallow when we can!"

I jumped out the hole and luckily landed on a bed in the in. My legs still hurt from the fall but I had to keep going. I made my way through the burned wreckage and the stairs where all burned. I had to jump down to the first floor. It hurt my legs even more put I don't want to get burned in this building so I kept going! I ran out of the building to see the dragon about to burn the little boy from before and the male soldier from before. They both were able to duck behind cover before he blew his fire. The dragon flew into the sky afterwards.

"Still alive, prisoner?" He said a bit surprised. "Follow me if you want to keep it that way!" He turned to the little boy's father. "Gunnar, take the boy and keep him safe. I am going to meet up with General Tullius and join the defense."

"Gods guide up Hadvar!" The father said.

"Let's go prisoner!" Hadvar shouted.

We ran through a path. "Stay close to the wall!" Hadvar shouted. Good thing too. I was almost impaled by the dragons talon when he clutched the wall. He blew fire out of his mouth burning someone alive and then left without noticing us. "Quickly, follow me!"

I followed him through a burned down building, passing a couple of dead bodies.

"Gods, how do we kill this thing?" A soldier shouted.

"Into the keep!" Shouted another.

"It's you and me prisoner. Stay close." Hadvar said.

We passes a couple soldiers on the way to the keep. "What in the eight divines is this thing?" One of them shouted.

We then met up with Ralof. "Ralof! You damned traitor! Out of my way!" Hadvar shouted angrily.

"We are escaping, Hadvar! You will not stop us this time!" Ralof shouted.

"Fine! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!" Hadvar responded.

"You! Come on into the keep!" Ralof shouted at me.

I was stuck in the middle of Ralof and Hadvar. Who do I follow? I couldn't choose. Hadvar had been nice to me even though he was supposed to kill me. And Ralof was just a nice guy. I decided to follow Ralof because the Imperials where trying to kill me without an unjust cause.

With Ralof, we ran into the keep. We saw a dead Stormcloak inside. Ralof ran up to it and bent over him. "We'll meet again in Sovngarde, brother." He stood up and turned to me. "Looks like we are the only ones who made it. That thing was a dragon. No doubt. Just like the children's stories and legends. The harbingers of the End Times. We better get moving. Come here. Let me see if I can get the bindings off." I walked off and he untied my hands. "There you go! You may as well take Ganjur's gear. He won't be needing it anymore."

Even though it felt wrong, I took his gear and put it on. Fur boots and a Blue Stormcloak cuirass. Not my style, but better then prisoner clothes. He also had an iron war axe. I didn't really need it because I knew some basic magic, but I took it anyway just in case.

"Alright." He turned and started to walk towards a closed gate. "Get that armor on and give that axe a few swings. I'm going to see if I can find some way out of here. Ahh! This one is locked. Let's see about that gate!"

I tried out some magic that I knew. I pointed my palm out towards thin air, not wanting to hit Ralof, and created a blast of continuous fire. 'Yep.' I thought. 'Still got it!'

"Damn." He said when he got to the other gate. "No way to open this from our side." I started to walk over to him but halfway there we say people coming down the hallway. "Imperials. Take cover!"

Two Imperial soldiers walked in. We killed them. It was a good test for my magic. Besides they tried to kill me when they saw me. I found a key on one of them. Maybe it's for the gate? I walked over to the gate. And sure enough the key worked!

"That's it! Come on, let's get out of here before that dragon brings the whole tower down on our heads!" Ralof said as he ran through the gate. No time to stop now. I followed him.

We walked down the stairs to the left of the room we were in and came into a corridor. This place is so mossy. There is even a plant growing in the corner! When we turned the next corner we saw a couple of guards. I can't tell who they are.

"Watch out!" Shouted Ralof. Suddenly the tunnel in front of us collapses because of that damned dragon. Can't he just leave already? "Damn. That dragon doesn't give up easy."

We heard people talking in the next room. We can't go back so we went in. "You won't take us alive!" Ralof shouted as he charged the Imperials. He got a few swings with his axe but my fire did most of the work. Easy pickings. "A store room. See if you can find any potions. We might need them." He said. I put my fire away and looked around.

I looked into the barrel that the guards were standing by, not knowing where else to look. Sure enough, I found potions. Three potions for health, a potion to recover stamina, and a potion to recover magicka. That last one will be very important to me.

I walked up to Ralof who was by the door. "Done? Let's get moving." He said hurriedly.

He walked out of the room and into a large corridor. We walked down it and turned left.

"Trolls blood." Whispered Ralof. "It's a torture room." And sure enough, it was. There are three cages in it. One of them even had a dead guy inside. Wait, it looks like he has mage robes on. I want them. But first we got intercepted but the Torturer and his assistant. They had just killed two Stormcloak's. We wanted revenge for them. Ralof charged with his axes and I with my magic. We won easily. Now how do I get the mage robes?

Ah! Just my luck. I was searching through the Torturer's knapsack and I found lock picks. "Grab anything useful and let's go!" Ralof shouted to me. I fiddled with the lock for a second but I got it open. I grabbed four pieces of gold, a magicka potion, the mage robes (much more my style) and a book that taught me a new type of magic: Sparks. I can now shoot lightning out of my hand. On the dead guys person I found 25 pieces of gold and two more magicka potions. You are very helpful my dear dead friend.

I put on the robes and hood and continued to find a way out. I followed Ralof into a long small corridor that had more cells in in. All four where empty. Gods be with the people that where in them. Then I got to the next room and there where hanging chambers from the ceiling. People where in them. All dead of course. I'm so sorry whoever you are.

Ralof had found a whole in the wall and we went through it. We followed some old rocky tunnel dug out of the earth, we got to a big chamber that had four guards arguing about General Tullius's orders. They saw us and began to attack. We killed them easily as well. I saw some oil underneath one of them. Fire, plus oil, equals one dead enemy.

"Let's go on ahead, see if the way is clear." Ralof said after we killed the four people. We approached a bridge that was up. Ralof pulled a lever and lowered the bridge. We are lucky we got across the bridge as fast as we did. As soon as we were across the dragon knocked over a boulder on the surface and it fell and crushed the bridge. "We are not going back that way, now." Ralof said. "We'd better push on. The rest of them will have to find another way out."

We came into a large open room that looked like some kind of sewer system. Water was funning over rocks in a small stream. We followed the stream for a while until the cave blocked us off. We took a small path to the right that branched off of the stream. There was a skeleton on a rock wall ledge that didn't look to promising. But there was a coin purse next to him that had five coins in it. I guess that a little promising. We followed the long path and then the cave started to get webby. There where spider webs all over the walls. We walked into a giant chamber that looked like a spiders nest. Four giant spiders crawled towards us. Two the size of me and two twice the size of me. All red. We killed them all. "I hate those damn things. Too many eyes, you know?" Ralof said as we continued down another path.

We met up with the stream again. It was a little bigger this time. We crossed a little land bridge to the other side of the cave. "Hold up!" Whispered Ralof. "There's a bear just ahead, you see her? I'd rather not tangle with her right now. Let's try to sneak by. Just take it nice and slow, and watch where you step. Or if you're feeling lucky, you can take this bow. Might take her by surprise. Go ahead, I'll follow your lead and watch your back."

Being as smart as I was and knowing we were trying to escape, I decided to try to sneak past her. "Almost there." Ralof whispered as we got near the end of the room. "Whew. That was close."

We walked into the next part of the cave. It was covered in animal blood, bones, and some kind of fog. We can hear the dragon still roaring up above. "That looks like the way out! I knew we would make it!" Ralof shouted as we rounded the corner and saw snow. We exited the cave and entered the world of Skyrim. "Wait!" Ralof said and crouched down behind a rock. I did the same to let the dragon fly away without spotting us.

"There he goes." Ralof said as the dragon disappeared behind some weird rock formations on a mountain in the distance. "It looks like he's gone for good this time. No way to know if anyone else made it out alive. But this place is going to be swarming with Imperials soon enough. We'd better clear out of here."


End file.
